MKLeo beats Sparg0 at Relax & Smash, rivalry intensifies

Last week saw the finals of Relax and Smash take place at GeekFest Cancún. While it’s the Panda Circuit that’s the most anticipated event right now, this tournament is the latest instalment in what looks like a growing competition between MKLeo and Sparg0 to rise to the top of Smash Ultimate.

MKLeo has long been thought of as one of the top players, both in previous Smash games and Ultimate. This year though, Sparg0 has been on an amazing run and he’s definitely made himself into a real contender for MKLeo’s top spot, so how did their latest clash at Relax & Smash go down?

Source: @ShinyMark1

Relax & Smash Tournament

The Relax and Smash tournament was hosted as part of Geekfest Cancün. This was a three-day event that saw 208 players attend in full. The tournament featured both singles, doubles, and squad strike matches. It’s the singles that pull in the most attention though. There wasn’t the highest tier of Smash tournament, but it’s part of the SWT 2022 circuit and included a $45,00 MXN prize pool. 90 players in all entered into the Singles bracket.

There weren’t too many surprises going into the final bracket. Although, a number of players ended up pretty high playing charecters not commonly seen that high. DannyBoy placed 13^th with a King K. Rool and two Bowsers made 17^th.

MKLeo, ShinyMark, Sprg0, and Chag all made it through to this round. There were a few tense matches in this round though:

Relax & Smash Finals Bracket

The Finals Bracket kicked off with MkLeo facing Sparg0. This match could have gone either way, but MKLeo pulled out ahead in the end winning 3-1. This wasn’t a wipe out though and Sparg0 performed well across the match.

In the Losers Bracket, Cheg beat ShinyMark 3-0 to easily move through to the final. Here he faced Sparg0. He won here to move back forward to once again face MKLeo to decide the winner at Relax & Smash

Sparg0 has had some decent runs this season, but he couldn’t quite clinch the win over MKLeo here. In the final, Sparg0 stuck with the Bayleth that’s been playing lately and MKLeo went with Corrin. MKLeo won all three rounds in the Grand Finals, taking the victory home and showing his dominance in the game right now.

MKLeo and SParg0

In terms of Smash Major winners this year, Sparg0 and MKLeo have been duelling for the top spot. Sparg0’s taken the win at Low Tide City, Tijuana at War, Collission 2022, Smash Summit 4, Lunch Box 19, and G4 Smash Ultimate iNvitational. MkLeo won out at some other events though. He’s beaten Sparg0 at RETA 2022, GENESIS 8, and Relax & Smash. He’s taken other wins too.

Compared to 2021, Sparg0 has definitely gained ground against MKLeo. In that year MKLeo beat him in the finals of both Mainstage and Port Priority 6. This year though, the tide has turned a bit.

Calling it a rivalry might imply that the players are hyping up the two of them fighting it out, when both are being pretty good sports about their respective wins and losses. However, with the amount of times these two have taken the top spots, they are each other’s biggest competition at the moment.

MKleo and Sparg0 aren’t the only players to grab Major wins this year. Gluttony has had a big win alongside others. However, these two players are definitely on the highest part of competition. These ups and downs definitely make these two’s clashes a lot of fun to watch at Smash events this year.